I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Cake is one of the most
original, witty and unique-sounding bands I have ever heard. Hailing
from my hometown of Sacramento California, I’ll admit I am a little
biased due to the fact that I have been going to Cake concerts since I
was just a young ’un in high school when the band was pressing their
own CDs and selling themselves in the back of clubs. From the first
time I heard this quirky pop, folk funk quartet at a little hole in the
wall club just outside downtown Sacramento, I was hooked. I had heard
rumors that the band was going to call it quits after three albums, yet
with Pressure Thief, the band is now on their fifth studio album,
obviously debunking the rumors that they were going away.

A handful of moderately successful radio and MTV hit songs and a few
soundtrack appearances have helped Cake become somewhat known in the
mainstream of music. Most people who listen to alternative music have
probably heard Cake before, most likely their first real hit song “The
Distance,” but why is it that a band that could have easily been lumped
into the novelty rock song world alongside bands like The Presidents of
the United States of America and the Toadies is enjoying such a long
and steady career? The answer is simple. They are very talented
songwriters and musicians and their albums are not just one hit song
alongside a bunch of filler. Every single Cake album has been full of
great songs and Pressure Chief is yet another feather in the band’s cap.

Somewhere between their first album Motorcade of Generosity and their
second album Fashion Nugget, someone in Cake, most likely original
member Vincent Di Fiore, began skillfully integrating a keyboard sound
into many Cake songs that sounds like a Theremin. The result is a sound
that is equally reminiscent of mid-‘90s Dr. Dre rap songs and Beach
Boys jams like “Good Vibrations.” Combining this sound with the folksy
yet poppy acoustic ukulele and voice of lead singer John McCrea, Cake’s
sound is one of the most unique things in music today.

The first single from Pressure Chief titled “No Phone” at first sounds
like it’s almost a sequel to their hit “Never There,” in that both
songs start with the sound of a phone before kicking in. That is where
the similarities really end, as the lyrics of the songs are polar
opposites. On “Never There,” singer McCrea is longing for a woman who
never seems to give him the time of day. On “No Phone,” McCrea now
wants his privacy and is having one of those days where he wants “No
phone, no phone, I just want to be alone today.” It’s one of those
songs that anyone who has a hectic life can relate to. There are days
you want to just shut everything out, turn off the phone ringer and
pretend the world doesn’t exist. Don’t get the idea that Cake is a
negative, dark band. Most of their music is upbeat and positive.

Doing cover songs of past hits seems to be a pretty common thing these
days for alternative bands. Case in point, I’m listing to Korn doing
Cameo’s “Word Up” on Sirius Satellite radio as I write this review.
However, Cake’s choice of a tune to cover is much more obscure. If you
don’t know about soft rock hippie rockers Bread, you are missing out.
Cake plucks the ultra-cool song “Guitar Man” from the Bread back
catalogue and puts their own spin on it. What better for a band called
Cake to cover than a song by a band called Bread anyway? Listening to
this song, I started to realize that Cake is really a band that could
have been just as successful in the ‘70s as they are today. I’ve been
listening to a lot of late ‘60s/early ‘70s hippie rock as of late
(don’t ask me why) and Cake has more in common with these kinds of
artists than much of the brainless alternative rock than I hear ad
nauseum on FM radio today.

With only 11 songs, most of them abut three minutes long, I was a
little disappointed that there was so little musical content on
Pressure Thief, but the music that is on this disc is all good. I can
certainly see how Cake could be lost on many casual music fans that
don’t like a strange edge to their music. On “Dime,” McCrea, in his
almost beat-poet style, sings about what it would be like to be a
10-cent piece. “When I'm on the ground I roll through town, I'm a
president you don't remember getting kicked around.” This brilliant
piece of lyric writing, with its reference to Nixon (yes I know Nixon
isn’t on the dime), is just one of many things that make Cake so great
in my opinion. Their music mixes acoustic instruments like trumpets,
guitars and drums with a whole host of percussion instruments and some
tastefully done electronic synths and drum beats. The only other modern
alternative artist I can think of that follows his own path, bucking
the musical trends, is Beck. If you haven’t heard this band and like
the idea of hearing something truly original that is witty, funny,
musically stimulating and has ‘70s pop rock influence in a modern
package, you need to taste a piece of this Cake.